Housing Disrepair Claims: What the Expert Surveyor's Report Must Show

A housing disrepair expert witness report is the document that usually decides a disrepair claim. It records the condition of the property, identifies which defects fall within the landlord's repairing obligations, explains what caused them and when the landlord should have known, and costs the remedial work. Written for the court under CPR Part 35, it must do all of this impartially, whichever party pays the fee. This guide explains what the report needs to show, how it fits the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Condition Claims, and what it costs.

What is a housing disrepair claim?

A housing disrepair claim is brought by a tenant against a landlord who has failed to carry out repairs they are legally responsible for. The main sources of that responsibility are:

• Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which implies into most residential tenancies an obligation to keep the structure and exterior in repair, together with the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and hot water.
• Section 9A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (inserted by the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018), which requires the home to be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and throughout it.
• Section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, which imposes a duty of care on landlords for personal injury or damage caused by defects they should have repaired.
• The express repairing terms of the tenancy agreement itself.

Typical complaints are damp and mould, leaking roofs, defective windows, failed heating, faulty electrics, rotten timber and structural movement. The claim is normally for an order that the repairs are done, plus damages for the period the tenant lived with the disrepair. Awaab's Law, introduced under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, now sets fixed timescales for social landlords to deal with damp, mould and other hazards, sharpening the focus on when a landlord knew about a problem.

Why the expert surveyor's report matters

Disrepair is a technical question dressed up as a legal one. Whether a wall is damp, why, whether the cause sits within the landlord's obligations, and what repair will cost are matters a judge cannot decide without expert help. The housing disrepair expert witness is therefore central to both sides' cases: for the tenant, the report establishes breach and supports the damages claim; for the landlord, it tests whether the defects are genuine disrepair, condensation from lifestyle factors, or items outside section 11 altogether.

Because the report is prepared for the court, the surveyor's overriding duty under CPR 35.3 is to the court, not to the instructing party. A report that reads as advocacy for the tenant or the landlord will be given little weight, and can be excluded. If you are new to the rules, the guide to what a CPR Part 35 report must contain sets out the mandatory declarations and structure.

What the housing disrepair expert witness report must show

A compliant disrepair report from a chartered surveyor will normally cover the following, in a form a district judge can follow.

• A schedule of defects, room by room. Every item of alleged disrepair is recorded with its location, extent and photographs. Moisture readings, surface temperatures and humidity are noted where damp and mould are in issue, because distinguishing penetrating damp, rising damp and condensation is often decisive.
• Cause of each defect. The surveyor gives an opinion on the cause, and whether it results from a failure of the structure, exterior or installations, from lack of maintenance, or from something the landlord is not responsible for, such as the tenant's own alterations or use of the property.
• Whether each item is disrepair in law. Not every defect is actionable. A property can be damp because of its original design without being "in disrepair", and the fitness for habitation test under section 9A is separate from the section 11 repairing covenant. The report should identify which legal standard each item engages, without straying into legal argument.
• Notice and timescale. A landlord is usually only liable from the point they knew or ought to have known of the defect. The surveyor comments on how long the defect appears to have existed, based on its physical development, so that the parties and the court can compare that with the complaint history.
• Health, safety and habitability. Where relevant, the report assesses hazards using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System under the Housing Act 2004, which has 29 hazard categories including damp and mould growth, excess cold, electrical hazards and structural collapse.
• A specification and costed schedule of works. The court needs to know what remedial work is required and, in reasonable detail, what it will cost. This also supports any claim for an order for specific performance.
• The Part 35 formalities. A statement of the expert's qualifications, the material relied on, the substance of all instructions, a statement of truth and the expert's declaration under Practice Direction 35.

The report will not normally calculate general damages. That is a legal exercise, usually expressed as a percentage of rent for the period of disrepair; the surveyor supplies the technical foundation on which it rests.

How the Pre-Action Protocol shapes the expert's role

The Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Condition Claims (England) applies before proceedings are issued and is designed to get repairs done and disputes settled without a trial. Three parts of it directly affect the surveyor's instruction:

• Letter of claim. The tenant's letter should set out the defects, the history of notice, and propose an expert. The landlord has 20 working days to respond.
• Single joint expert. The protocol expects the parties to try to agree a single joint expert, or at least a joint inspection by their own experts. Most disrepair claims are on the fast track, where the court will rarely allow each side its own expert; see how a single joint expert is appointed.
• Proportionality. Costs are tightly controlled on the small claims and fast tracks, so the inspection and report need to be scoped to the defects actually in dispute rather than a full Level 3 building survey of the whole property.

Where the claim turns on a contractor's workmanship, see expert evidence in building defects claims; a construction expert witness may then be the better discipline.

How much does a housing disrepair expert report cost?

Fees depend on the size of the property, the number of defects alleged and whether the instruction is joint or single-party. A single-property disrepair inspection and Part 35 report is usually a contained piece of work, so it tends to sit at the lower end of the £5,000 to £15,000 band that applies to straightforward expert witness reports, with hourly rates of £150 to £300 for answering Part 35 questions, joint statements and any further correspondence. Court attendance, if the case reaches trial, is typically charged at £1,000 to £2,000 per day. A single joint expert's fee is normally shared equally unless the court orders otherwise. There is a fuller breakdown in the guide to expert witness costs in the UK.

For landlords, an early independent inspection is often cheaper than a contested claim: it either confirms that repairs are needed before damages mount, or provides the evidence to defend items that are not disrepair at all.

Instructing a housing disrepair expert witness through Survey Merchant

Survey Merchant provides RICS chartered surveyors as expert witnesses in housing disrepair claims across the UK, acting for tenants, private and social landlords, and as single joint experts. The panel's surveyors are experienced in section 11 and fitness for habitation claims, damp and mould diagnosis, HHSRS assessment and the Pre-Action Protocol, and prepare reports that meet CPR Part 35 and the RICS practice statement for expert witnesses. Fixed fees are quoted for the inspection and report, so the cost is known before the instruction is confirmed.

To arrange a housing disrepair expert witness, send the letter of claim or the defect list and the property address through the contact page or call 0204 579 8270. For related property disputes, see the main expert witness services page.